Red Briar Academy: Taking the Challenge
by RogueMustangMare
Summary: Welcome to Red Briar Academy, a renowned riding academy built upon the white, sandy beaches of Florida; here, within these hallowed halls, riders have graduated on to becoming some of the top names in Equestrianism. It is here, that only the best riders will learn to shine. But only if they take up the challenge and conquer the obstacles in their path.
1. Prologue

**Summary**

For Annika Wyatt, Red Briar Academy was supposed to be the beginning of the fresh start that she so desperately needed. She's attending a new school and she's riding for a new barn, both of which will, hopefully, help her put the past behind her. However, trouble and drama seems to have already started at the prestigious Academy, and it's forcing Annika to question her future as a rider.

But when she overhears Brianna's parents plotting a scheme that will get their daughter to quit riding . . . what will Annika do? Will she stand by and do nothing? Or . . . will she take up the challenge and save Brianna?

**Prologue**

_ I watched with nervous apprehension as Sasha rode her horse around the jumping course; we were both tied for first place. Depending on how well we did in this round, one of us would be a shoo-in to make the team. I leaned my head against Eclipse's neck and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down._

_ Eclipse had been spectacular, turning in a beautiful Dressage round and had been brave going around the Cross-Country course. I shuddered, remembering the intimidating jumps, designed to test a rider's skill as well as the horses' training and willingness to jump just about any jumps set before them. The Show Jump course would be even tougher, since this was the last try out of the year._

_ A groan from the audience made me open my eyes and look to see Sasha rising from the water jump, soaking wet. The buzzer went off, signaling that she had been eliminated. It took me a full minute to realize that she was done, she had failed the try outs and she would have to wait until next year to try again._

_ "Ooh and it looks like the water jump has claimed another victim, ladies and gentlemen!" said Fred Baughman, one of the two announcers for this try out._

_ "And it's such a disappointment, Fred, considering Ms. Byler was one of the top two riders for today," said Andrea Williams, the second announcer. "But it looks like this round was just too much for her horse."_

_ "Well don't forget, Andrea, the Academy Directors are looking for the best riders for the Ruby Team. It's absolutely paramount for the Freshmen students to learn that this is not an easy school to get into and it's not an easy task of making the team," said Fred. "And, on that note, that was Number 44, Water Nymph; owned and ridden by Sasha Byler of the Fresh Group! Eliminated!"_

_ I breathed a sigh of relief, relieved that the try outs would soon be over._ Maybe after the part tonight, I can curl up in bed and reread the fifth Harry Potter book_ I thought. However, my relief was short-lived as they called my name._

_ "Up next is Number 45, Solar Eclipse; owned and ridden by Annika Wyatt of the Freshmen Group!" shouted Fred._

_ I took a deep breath, trying to calm the nervous shaking in my stomach, as I gathered up the reins and swung myself onto my mare's back."Okay girl, it's now or never," I whispered, as I settled down into the saddle and urged my mare to walk toward the entrance of the arena._

_ Sasha rode out of the arena as my mare and I rode up and I rode off to the side a bit, making sure she had enough room to pass. She looked beyond angry and, if looks could kill, anyone who even happened to be in her line of sight would die a horrible and painful death. She turned to me and glowered at me, yanking back on her mare's reins and causing the mare to come to an abrupt halt. "Don't look so smug, you won't do any better than I did. In fact, I bet you won't even make it over the first jump!" she said, laughing haughtily, as she rode away to the awaiting groom._

_ I shook my head. Even when Sasha had just lost any chance of making the team, she still had to try to make me both physically and emotionally sick._

_ "But we won't let her get to us, will we girl?" I asked my mare, as I tapped my heels against her sides once to get her attention, and then again, asking her to walk forward._

_ My mare moved out into a leisurely walk, her head down and swinging from side-to-side in time with her walk. I could tell from how she walked that she wanted nothing more than to go back to her stall. But she knew the job wasn't over and, when she saw the brightly colored jumps, she instantly perked up._

_ I laughed and patted her neck as I rode toward the center of the arena._

_ "Now this young lady has certainly shown everyone that she and her horse mean business," said Andrea. "During the past three try outs, they have always been within the top three riders, which, as everyone knows, are the three safe spots for any rider to be in."_

_ "You are right Andrea, the three top riders with the best scores are sure winners; but this young lady has more than enough potential to be on the team. According to her instructors, she is a hard-working student both in and out of the arena," said Fred. "Apparently she not only has high scores in all areas of the riding side of our school, but she's also on the Honor Roll as well."_

_ "Well then this last try out may just be her crowning moment," said Andrea._

_ I stopped Eclipse in the center of the arena, tuning out the two announcers' commentary. I nodded to the judges and, when they gave the signal to start, I urged my mare into a fast canter._

_ Eclipse picked up the fast gait with a flick of her tail._

_ As we headed toward the Start line and the first jump, I prayed that my mare and I would get through this course safely. Fred and Andrea weren't kidding when they said that the Academy Directors were looking for the best riders for the team._

_ There were twelve jumps in all, ranging from simple fences to the water jump at the end, with both a double and a triple combination. With a lot of twists and turns, as well as the jumps ranging from 2'-4' . . . yeah, I think I'll go back to the Cross-Country round._

_ The buzzer rang and I rode through the Start line, toward the first jump, a simple 2' gate. Eclipse soared over the gate and cantered toward the second fence, a triple bar._

_ The Course Designers had designed the course to lull the riders into a false sense of security. The beginning of the course had the simple jumps before leading to the double combination on one side of the arena and then looping around in a half-circle toward the triple combination and the water jump._

_ My mare jumped each fence with ease and we quickly conquered the double combination, an ascending oxer followed by a fake brick wall. She pulled at the bit, wanting to go faster and I let her out a bit, but kept her under control. We quickly came up to the first fence of the triple combination, a parallel oxer._

_ I rose in the saddle as soon as we reached the correct take-off spot; my mare rose into the air and, even though I couldn't see what she looked like, I could feel her body shift into a graceful arc, as we cleared the jump. I asked her to shorten her stride before we approached the large cross-bar, and then asked her to lengthen her stride before the third jump when we had cleared the second jump. The third jump, a descending oxer, loomed ahead of us like a menacing monster; this jump, besides the water jump, had caused a lot of riders to collect faults. But I had been watching the other riders carefully and, instead of trying for just one stride, I put in a half-stride and signaled my mare to jump._

_ Eclipse rose into the air and cleared the fence with ease; her hooves barely clearing the top pole. We landed safely on the other side and I turned her toward the water jump._

_ I was tempted to look at the electronic timer to see if our round was as perfect as I thought it was, but a more immediate issue was taking place at the moment._

_ As we rode toward the water jump, Eclipse seemed to grow bigger with every stride that brought us closer and closer to the jump. It continued until we were so tall, I was literally in the clouds. I gasped and held on to one of the reins for dear life. "What's going on?" I asked, wondering how my mare had grown to such a height._

_ I couldn't tell how high up I was, but I knew it was too high for me to climb down safely. My breathing crept to hyperventilation and I broke out into a cold sweat._

_ Suddenly, and without warning, my mare disappeared and I fell through the air until . . ._

I hit the floor with a soft thud, in a tangle of limbs and bedding. I struggled with untangling myself, my nightshirt restricting my movement a bit, until finally, I crawled out of the blankets.

Looking around, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the arena was nothing but the figment of my imagination, and that I was still in my room in my childhood home. "It was just a dream," I breathed. "Just a dream."


	2. Chapter One

"Hey sweetie, I'm done with my mares and I'll help you get Beauty ready in a bit, but I gotta go pay our tuition first," said Mom as I finished combing out Eclipse's black-and-white tail.

"Okay Mom," I replied as I set the comb back into my purple grooming box. I grabbed the hoof pick as Mom passed us on her way to the Office. I stood next to my mare's left shoulder and ran my hand down her leg. "Up!" I said, gently squeezing her pastern.

She shifted her weight on to her other three legs and lifted the leg I had indicated.

"Good girl," I said, using the pick to pick out the dirt and small stones in her hoof, before brushing the gunk out, and letting go of her hoof; she slowly set down her leg, returning weight to it. "Phew, I can't understand how you can get yourself so dirty that you make yourself look as if a curry comb had never even touched you," I add, moving to her left hindleg and doing the same thing to her left hindleg.

She snorted as she lifted her hindleg in response to my gentle squeeze.

I knew why and how she got so dirty, it's because I let her out every night so she wouldn't go stark, raving crazy from being in her stall all day. During the summer, Eclipse didn't like being outside in the daytime because of the flies and mosquitoes; so at nighttime, I would let her out into one of the pastures with Beauty, my ex-pony, and Mom's two horses, Belle and Promise.

"Hey watch it!" yelled a groom, as he walked past me, carrying a grooming kit, having just come from the Tack Room. He very rudely pushed past me, even though he'd had plenty of room.

"You watch it, you damn idiot!" I snapped, patting Eclipse's rump as I moved to her right hindleg.

He muttered something that I couldn't hear and I shook my head as Eclipse lifted her hoof and I cleaned it out. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 9:30 in the morning. _Fifteen minutes until they came, and only thirty minutes until Mom and I leave this hell-hole_ I thought. I was also praying that the Brats wouldn't show up until after Mom and I had already left.

But of course, I could never get my wish.

Eclipse snorted and shifted uneasily, her hindleg just missing my head.

"Whoa . . . easy girl . . . what's gotten you so spooked?" I asked, setting her right foreleg down. I moved to her head and began scratching her cheek.

It was then that I heard what my mare had heard and why the sound had made her uneasy. The clacking sound of stiletto heels on the concrete floor reached my ears and I groaned as I realized that my prayers had gone unanswered.

"Oh well . . . at least this is the last time we'll have to put up with all three of them girl," I whispered into her ear. "At least we'll only have to deal with Victoria by herself."

She whickered, calm now that I was by her head.

"Annika . . . I hope you have everything ready; because we are on a very tight . . ." began Victoria's voice as she, Sasha, and Natalie came around the corner. I know they had been expecting to see their horses all perfectly groomed and ready for the trip to the Academy. "Schedule . . ." she finished lamely.

Well . . . I had fed their horses and refilled their water buckets . . . but that was about it.

I looked at Victoria to see her face change from a natural tan complexion to the color of a boiled lobster. _Oh boy, here it comes _I thought, preparing for the yelling that was to come.

"What is this?" she asked, gritting her teeth.

"What is what?" I asked innocently, patting my mare's neck and walked over to my grooming box. I put the pick in its spot and closed the lid, before putting the box into Eclipse's tack trunk. Normally, I would have cleaned out the brushes before putting them away, but I would clean them once I got to the Academy and had Eclipse settled into her stall and her tack trunk unpacked.

"You know what I'm talking about, Annika . . . why aren't our horses and trunks ready?" asked Victoria, her voice just a bit higher than usual.

"Because I'm no longer your personal groom and I refuse to care for your horse, so if you will excuse me," I said, grabbing Eclipse's blue traveling leg wraps.

"No you are not excused, we gave you explicit orders to have our horses and tack trunks ready by 9:45 _sharp_!" she yelled, her face becoming more flushed by the second.

"Did you receive our instructions?" asked Sasha, crossing her arms.

"You mean the twelve sheets of paper that my cousin had given to me yesterday, detailing how each of you wanted your horse and trunk to look like?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yes!" said Natalie exasperated.

"I threw them away," I replied, shrugging my shoulders and knelt down next to Eclipse's left foreleg and began wrapping her leg.

"You threw them away?!" screeched Victoria.

I nodded, not even looking up as I finished wrapping the leg and tied it securely, before moving on to her left hindleg.

"You know instead of screaming, yelling, and stomping your feet like a couple of five year olds . . . maybe you three should go about taking care of your own horses?" I suggested coolly, moving on to Eclipse's right hindleg.

Looking up, I saw that their faces looked as if I suggested they drink blood or eat someone's heart.

"And maybe you need to learn your place, you stupid groom!" said Sasha. "You may think that you are a better rider than us, but you will be nothing more than a third-rate rider at a third-rate barn!"

I rolled my eyes as I finished wrapping Eclipse's legs and walked back to my trunk to grab the bell boots. "So you're saying that not only is Arctic Wolf Farms a third-rate stable, but that Red Briar Academy is also a third-rate stable?" I asked, snapping each bell-boot over my mare's hooves.

That shut them up, which gave me enough time to grab the knee-guards and placed them over my mare's knees. When the arguing began, they weren't arguing with me, but among themselves. I couldn't understand much of what they were saying, but what little I could make out, it almost made me laugh out loud . . . well . . . almost.

Their argument seemed to be centered on the idea that Victoria had somehow planned this act of sabotage. That she had never given me the instructions and had in fact thrown them away herself. Apparently, she's supposed to have a groom waiting somewhere with her tack trunk packed up and, now this one really took the cake, that the horse in Indigo's stall was not the real Indigo, but in fact was another horse meant to look like him.

Yeah, they're definitely crazier than half the people in Coastal right now.

Obviously, Victoria defended herself and with their attention fixated on each other, I was able to finish getting Eclipse ready and start getting Beauty ready for her trip to Arctic Wolf Farms.

I sighed as I, for the last time, wrapped her legs to keep her safe during the trip. Beauty, a pure-black Connemara mare with a diamond-shaped-star on her forehead and stands at fourteen-two hands high, had been my pony for a little over two years. In fact, she was my first pony that actually fit the owners' standards; she had come from Ireland and had been bought by Sasha's parents for their daughter to grow in Equitation and to start training for Eventing. However, she and the mare did not get along and, after a couple of months with any improvement, her parents had bought her another pony and put Beauty up for sale.

I had bought her and now, there was no evidence that she had ever been anything but pleasant.

"Um . . . excuse me?" asked a timid, shy young male voice.

"What?!" yelled all three girls, turning to look at the newcomer.

I didn't need to look to see who it was, for I would recognize that voice anywhere. "Hey Jake, if you'd give me a hand, we'll get Beauty ready a lot faster," I said, finished wrapping her legs.

"No he will not help you, he will be getting our horses ready!" shouted Victoria, turning toward me.

_That does it_ I thought, fed up with Victoria's attitude. _She can try to boss me around, but when it comes to someone who is just an innocent third party . . . no way! _Something inside of me snapped and I jumped up, my own face red for once. "Victoria Lynn Clarke, I have had it with your damn attitude! If you won't take care of your horse yourself, then go find three grooms who will see to your every need and run to your beck and call! Jake doesn't even ride here and you will do well to show some of that proper etiquette attitude that Aunt Lara taught you!" I snapped, my eyes practically bugging out of their sockets, and my index finger jabbing her in the chest.

"He is nothing more than a . . ." began Victoria, but whatever it was that she had been about to call him, I'll never know. Because at that moment, a British-accented voice broke up our argument.

"Ms. Clarke, Ms. Wyatt . . . what is the meaning of this?"

We turned to see Mrs. Richards, the co-owner of Morning Star Stables, standing with her arms crossed in front of a small group of people that consisted of my mom, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, Jake's parents, and Rose, Jake's sister.

Mrs. Richards is a forty-something year old woman with dyed-blonde hair, gray eyes, fair skin, tall, and slender; you could always pick her out of a crowd of people by not only the dye job, but also by the amount of jewelry she wore and the fact that she was always dressed to impress. Like today, since she would also be traveling to Red Briar Academy to support her riders, she wore a tailored sky-blue three-piece suit and pumps. As a former Grand Prix Show Jumping champion, she knew exactly what it took to impress potential sponsors, breeders, trainers, and even, potential buyers. No doubt her husband will be similarly dressed.

Before I could even respond, Victoria's face changed from anger to that of a damsel in distress. "It wasn't my fault, Mrs. Richards, I simply asked my cousin, Annika, to make sure that Indigo, Nymph, and Spells were ready for today, because I know the grooms are overworked as it is. She said she would take care of everything, but when me, Sasha, and Natalie came in a few minutes ago, we found that our horses hadn't even been fed!" she cried, wiping away pretend tears.

Sasha and Natalie copied the same movement, and Natalie went as far as to pull out a hankie and blew her nose. "Poor Spells," she simpered.

"What?" I asked incredulously. "That's a lie, I told you to find someone else to take care of your horses, and they did get fed this morning."

"I can testify to that," said Mom.

"Okay, you three go to the Riders' Lounge right now," said Mrs. Richards.

"You mean she's going to get away with it?" asked Sasha, horrified.

"Ms. Byler, if any of you had bothered to come up to my office instead of standing here like a bunch of idiots, five minutes ago, I would have been able to punish Ms. Wyatt," replied Mrs. Richards.

"Punish her? For what? Just because those three didn't make sure that their horses were ready?" asked Rose, sounding as if she couldn't believe her ears.

Mrs. Richards ignored her. "Be that as it may, Ms. Wyatt and her mother are no longer clients of ours; so, you three go to the Riders' Lounge and I will get the grooms to get your horses ready," she replied tersely.

Victoria and her crew stalked off with their heads held high.

Mrs. Richards turned to me. "You were lucky that five minutes ago your mother paid your tuition, so don't get so arrogant young lady," she growled at me. She turned to the group. "You all have ten minutes to get those filthy animals off of my property . . ."

"Ten minutes? Are you crazy?" interrupted Jake, but she didn't pay him any attention.

"Starting now!" she snapped and stalked off to go find three grooms.

"Can she really do that, Dad?" asked Rose, looking at her father.

"I'm afraid she can, Rose. This is her property, she can say who can stay and who can't," replied Mr. Matthews.

"Well, let's get to work then," said Mrs. Matthews, taking charge of the situation. "Jake, you and Annika finish up with Beauty; Annika, you then will lead Eclipse out to the first trailer out front, Rose will show you the way. Jake, you will take Beauty out to the trailer that has been assigned to you and Mariska. Rose, you take Beauty and Eclipse's tack trunks out to their assigned trailers and stow them away.

"Mariska, you and I will lead Belle and Promise out to the trailer and then we will come back for the tack trunks. Honey, you go take care of some business and then you, me, and Mariska will go move their stuff to the Suburban and the SUV going home. All right, let's go!" she said.

Mom and I looked at each other in confusion as the others began working out Mrs. Matthews' plan. Mom shrugged and moved to take Belle's lead rope, while Mrs. Matthews became acquainted with Promise.

"Yeah, Mom has a way of making a game-plan at the spur of the moment," said Rose, bringing me out of my confusion. "You'll soon get used to it," she adds.

"Oh," I replied, not knowing how else to respond, as I walked over to Beauty and helped Jake put the knee-guards on her knees.

Within five minutes, both of Mom's horses and all four tack trunks had been taken out to the awaiting trailers.

"All right, she's all set," I said to Jake, standing up from checking the mare's wraps.

"Okay, thanks," he said, taking hold of Beauty's lead rope and led her out toward the exit.

I sighed as I watched him go, suddenly feeling a bit empty; Beauty had been the last pony I would ever own. And, now that she had been sold, it felt strange to have only one horse, when I was used to owning not only Eclipse, but a pony as well.

I looked around the stalls, remembering all of the fun times Mom and I had spent together; Eclipse had spent the first four years being fostered by my ponies since her own dam had died giving birth to her. But when Belle came around, Eclipse learned a great deal more about being a mature horse from her. Belle, a light-bay American Quarter Horse mare with a blaze going down her face, four socks, and stands at fifteen-three hands high, is Mom's pleasure horse; she also taught the young horses how to behave and was good for keeping a nervous horse calm during a trailer ride. I know I will miss her being around when I took Eclipse to shows during the school year.

Promise, a light-gray Arabian mare that stands at fifteen hands high, is Mom's newest Dressage project; and, while I know Arabians are known for being a bit flighty and high-strung at times, I'm still wondering how Mom can see anything good in that mare, considering she nearly destroyed the horse trailer she came in. But, Mom has been known to get the best out of any horse she takes on, so, we'll just have to wait and see.

Eclipse whickered and shook her head, bringing me out of my memories. I smiled and walked over to her, laying my hand on her neck. Mrs. Richards' attitude might have been surprising to the Matthews family, but it was a pretty common occurrence around here at the stable.

You see, Morning Star Stables is a large training/competition barn that also serves as a riding school; here, experienced trainers and instructors train and teach horses, ponies, and riders to become top-quality champions in any one of the English disciplines. However, the owners have strict guidelines of who is allowed to be there. For the ponies, the standards are pretty simple; they will accept all pony breeds unless they have a pinto or spotted coat pattern, the ponies have to be purebred, or at least mixed with an approved horse breed, and they have to be registered.

The standards for a horse are a bit stricter; the trainers will only accept horses such as the Hotbloods, Warmbloods, the Spanish breeds, the gaited breeds, and the Friesian horses. Horses like the Quarter Horses, Appaloosa, or, like Eclipse, have a pinto or spotted coat coloring are not allowed. The horses not only have to be registered and a purebred, but they must also have impeccable bloodlines. So, say you have two Thoroughbreds, both have good, solid conformation; they're beautiful to look at, their training and competition records are good, and they're both Eventing prospects.

Now, say one Thoroughbred's bloodlines are fantastic with champions ranging from the Racing Industry to Horse Shows, to the Olympic disciplines, however, his attitude needs work; while the second Thoroughbred is the first of its family to be good at something but has a gentle disposition with a bit of fire to go all the way. Which one do you think they will choose? If you guessed the second Thoroughbred, you're wrong; only someone like me and Mom would choose the second Thoroughbred. The trainers would choose the first Thoroughbred and would work very hard to break them of their spirit. The trainers here only want purebred, blue-blooded, push-button horses and ponies for their riders and they have a reputation for doing just that.

Now, we've covered the ponies and the horses, now their standards for their riders? Yeah, it's pretty crazy. When I said that both Mr. and Mrs. Richards dressed to impress, they also expect their riders to be the same way. Which basically means you have to be rich, beautiful/handsome, have great riding skills, a good academic record, and always be dressed to impress at all times. My cousin and her two friends are the perfect examples of a Morning Star Rider; they're wealthy, beautiful, are the best riders when it comes to Classical Dressage, Eventing, Show Jumping, Hunter, Equitation, and in the Hunt Seat Division, although Sasha and I tie for first when it comes to Eventing and Equitation. They're okay in school and they have clothes that I swear shout out designer origins.

And myself? Well . . . let's just say . . . I'm a great, big thorn in Mr. and Mrs. Richards' sides. Sure, Mom and I are well off, but we're not rich, I'm average looking with my shoulder-length chestnut-brown hair, brown eyes, lightly tanned skin, and I'm average in the height and weight department. Mom had made sure that I knew not only how to ride, both on the flat and over jumps, but she made sure that I knew all about Stable and Field Management, and Horse Health. And I've been on the Honor Roll since the third grade. But my fashion sense? The only time I dress up is for church or a show . . . other than that I usually ride in jeans and a t-shirt that come from Walmart.

I guess all of that could have been overlooked if my first two ponies and Eclipse had lived up to their standards; but I don't regret owning them.

"Hey Annika?" asked Rose's voice, again shaking me out of my thoughts.

I shook my head lightly. "Huh?" I asked.

"I said, _Hey what's the hold-up_?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"Oh . . . just having one last look around," I replied, untying the lead rope from the metal bar of Eclipse's old stall. "Kind of feels strange to be leaving this place after ten years," I add, gently tugging on the lead rope to get Eclipse's attention, before walking toward the exit.

"Feels like a dream doesn't it?" she asked, walking beside me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I keep thinking that at some point I'll wake up and none of this will be real," I replied, passing by the Shower Area.

Inside, Indigo, Nymph, and Spells were being bathed by the three grooms Mrs. Richards had gotten to get them ready. Indigo raised his head; his ears pricked forward, and whinnied in greeting.

I looked over at Rose to see her smile a small, sad smile. "What's wrong?" I asked, wondering why she looked so sad.

She sighed. "Nothing much," she replied. "It's just . . . well, Indigo used to belong to my uncle, who's a Dressage trainer at my family's farm. Well, I had been his main rider before he was sold to Victoria."

"Oh," I replied, as we walked away from the Shower Area and the wide double-doors came into view. "I almost forgot that he had been bought from your family's farm. It was such a surprise when she had refused all of the horses the Richards had offered her, it had been the talk of the stable for a week."

It certainly had been the talk of the stable; after Victoria, Sasha, Natalie, and I had been accepted into Red Briar Academy, Mr. and Mrs. Richards paid even more attention to the three Brats then it was thought possible before. Giving them sponsorships and offering them each first pick of the best horses from their own competition stock for free. Sasha had chosen Nymph, a dappled-gray Anglo-Arabian mare who stands at sixteen-one hands high, and Natalie had chosen Spells, a bay Hanoverian/Thoroughbred gelding with a star on his forehead, a snip on his muzzle, and stands at fifteen-seven hands high.

But Victoria, proud, wealthy, and beautiful Victoria, who is the Best Junior Dressage Rider at Morning Star Stables. Victoria Clark, who had sponsors lined up to pay for her training in both the Hunter Division and in Classical Dressage; to pay for her tuition and for any new horse and equipment as she needed it, had chosen to buy Indigo from the same farm that I had bought my first two ponies. Although both she and Indigo was a good match, the real reason he had been purchased was because he fit the Richards' standards to a T.

Indigo, a blue-roan Dutch Warmblood gelding that stands at sixteen hands high, had a long pedigree full of champions ranging from horse shows to the Olympic disciplines. His own training and competition record left no doubt that he was ready for the National shows in the Hunter Division; heck, if he wasn't stuck with Victoria, he would more than likely already be on the United States Equestrian Team, or USET, for Dressage.

"Yeah, I hadn't wanted to sell Indigo to her, but her parents had made a very good offer and Indigo had seemed to go well for her at the time," explained Rose, shaking her head. "It doesn't look like she's shown any attachment to him."

I shook my head. "Nope, this is a full-boarding barn, meaning there are grooms and stable hands to do all of the dirty work," I explained, as we reached the double-doors where the loading/unloading area was.

"You do your own chores," she said, pointing out one of the many things that made me stick out like a sore thumb.

"Yeah thanks to Mom not wanting me to be like the spoiled brats back there," I replied. "I don't know what would have happened if it hadn't been for her lessons."

"You'd probably have a hard time at the Academy," said Rose. "Even though they offer both full and part-boarding, they'd rather see you take care of your horse than someone else; unless of course you're sick or injured."

I chuckled. "Yeah, you're probably right," I said, as we stopped just outside the entrance to the barn. "I'm also glad that I got that scholarship, if it wasn't for that, Mom and I would still be here."

She chuckled. "I doubt that, ever since the Pony Finale, our parents have been talking about hiring your mom to work at Arctic Wolf, and, if she had accepted the position, you would have been transferred to the riding school," she explained.

I had to agree with her on that. Mom had been working for herself ever since she graduated college with a degree in horse training; and, while the money from the sales somewhat provided a good income, it wasn't always secure. And, the government money she'd receive twice a year for being a full-blood Native American Seminole only helped so much. I looked up to see where the horse trailers and vehicles were and gasped at the sight that met my eyes.

"Whoa!"


End file.
